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32nd Utah Senior State Amateur: John Owen is a repeat medalist
Shortly before turning 50, John Owen played in the State Amateur semifinals. Since then, he has been trying to reach that level of the Senior State Am.
Owen again put himself in good position Monday, shooting a 4-under-par 68 at Bonneville Golf Course and repeating as the medalist in the 32nd Utah Senior State Amateur Championship.
The stroke-play round eliminated one-third of the final field in each division, sending 32 (Senior), 16 (Super-Senior, 60-over) and eight (Legends, 70-over) contestants into match play Tuesday. The final matches, with each division using different tee boxes, are scheduled Thursday.
John Owen
SENIOR
Owen’s solid round of five birdies and one bogey gave him the No. 1 seed by one stroke over Brigham Gibbs, who was the 2021 champion at Bonneville.
Last August at Hill Air Force Base’s Hubbard Memorial GC, Owen posted a 70 and won two matches before losing to eventual champion Jon Wright in the quarterfinals. The previous summer at Alpine Country Club, he lost to Matthew Lyons in 20 holes in the round of 16 as the No. 4 seed.
Monday’s cut came at 79, with a 7-for-6 playoff finalizing the bracket.
Defending champion Jon Wright posted a 74 that featured a back-nine 34. Wright and Gibbs are the only former winners in the Senior field, although some big names of past State Amateurs have resurfaced in their 50s. Among the golfers advancing to match play were 2005 State Am runner-up Jon Morgan (72), 1998 State Am champion Darrin Overson (73) and 2002 winner Gregg Oliphant (74). Wright, 55, is a two-time winner of both the State Am and the Senior State Am.
Other notables in the bracket include 2025 Senior Stroke Play winner Brett Hess (75), 2024 runner-up David Booth (77) and Clark Jones (77), the father of 2022 State Am winner Zac Jones.
Craig Wilson
SUPER-SENIOR
Craig Wilson, the 2023 champion, made four birdies and one bogey for a 69 and a three-stroke edge over Mark Gardiner, a two-time winner of this division in the annual Senior Stroke Play event that’s staged in May. Randy Hicken followed at 73 and defending champion Rick Lloyd took the No. 5 seed with a 75.
No playoff was necessary to complete the 16-golfer bracket, with Craig Gardner’s 80 good for the final berth.
Rob Bachman
LEGENDS
Rob Bachman bogeyed three of the last four holes, but held on to claim the No. 1 seed in the 70-over division with a 77. Defending champion Michael Hacker, who also won the Legends title in the Senior Stroke Play, and Kurt Bernhisel were next at 78.
The cut came at 82, as David Cannon parred the last four holes to earn the last spot in the quarterfinals.
Click here for all-age division leaderboards.
18-hole Stroke Play Qualifier recap written by Fairways Media senior writer Kurt Kragthorpe. Photography Fairways Media file photos.